Homeland Security Adviser Thomas Bossert Latest Official to Resign

Staffing changes within the Trump White House continued this week, as newly confirmed National Security Adviser John Bolton assumed his post, reportedly influencing the departure, one day later, of Homeland Security Adviser Thomas Bossert.

Bossert became the United States’ 7th Homeland Security Adviser in January and led federal efforts to respond to disasters in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Bossert was also responsible for a portfolio of issues that included serving as “a point person in the White House on protecting the nation from terror and cyber threats,” according to PBS.

Bossert briefly gained notoriety last July when an internet “email prankster” used a phishing attack to fool Bossert into believing he was communicating with President Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner and other officials, ultimately being voluntarily offered Bossert’s private contact information.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, upon confirming Bossert’s departure, that the president is “grateful for Tom’s commitment to the safety and security of our great country.”

The announcement of Bossert’s departure is the latest in a string of recent high-profile resignations by top Trump administration officials, with the month of March alone seeing the departures of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as well as ongoing questions about whether EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt may lose his post.